There is great importance attached to teaching the study of Islam. I believe that it is critical to make Islamic theology courses more accessible to the public. The internet may be a great source, but it is hard to guarantee factual information. Having factual knowledge may allow the public to make their own, informed decisions, rather than eating what the media feeds them. In the age of Globalization, respecting and understanding various faiths is crucial for peaceful coexistence. Learning about Islam may shine light on the similarities it has with other religions.

In response to mba2k16, it’s great to hear that you’ve gained so much out of this class. I think that achieves the entire point of the course, having people leave with a holistic understanding of Islam and its studies. It may be impossible to teach everything about Islam in one semester, let alone one lifetime. But it is reasonable to leave with an understanding of the fundamentals.

I can’t believe this is my last blog post! Overall, I really enjoyed this class. I really liked the way that Professor Mozaffar taught this class. He made sure to make connections to outside things and religions and this really helped to better understand the different aspects of Islam. Also, by picking various movies taking place in different countries, we were able to learn about Islam from different perspectives. This allowed us to have a more broad understanding of the religion. I know that there is still so much more to learn about this religion and I hope that I can learn more at least from my friends who are Muslim!

In response to doublestuffedoreo93, I completely agree with you! I came into this class not knowing anything about Islam—but I have learned much more about the religion in this class and it’s great! I have a much greater understanding of Islam and I will definitely recommend this course with Professor Mozaffar to other students!

This class was a better experience than I had expected. I loved the approach that was taken- presenting the facts and allowing the students to make their own conclusions about the material. I learned a lot about Islam, I also learned how to approach the study of this religion. I realize that there is so much more to learn, I wish I could continue taking this class next semester.

In response to littlemisssunshine2015, I agree, this class was not one that dragged. The time really flew. It is sad to to see it end. I think more classes like this should be available to the public in order to educate the public about the realities and fundamentals of Islam in order to alleviate misunderstandings many people have.

First and foremost, I want to apologize for getting this in a day late. I have been so engulfed in the final and paper 4 for this class, as well as other finals, that it completely slipped my mind. I don’t really have much to say for my final blog post due to not having a lecture for our last class. That being said, I do want to take a quick moment to talk about this class. I absolutely loved taking this course. Between the information I learned and out professor, I do not think I could have asked for a better theology course. I came into this class knowing virtually nothing about Islam. All I really knew was that a defining characteristic of women in Islam is the hijab, and that was about it. I now know so much more. What has intrigued me the most is the connections there are between Islam and Catholicism. I had always lumped Islam in with religions like Buddhism and Hinduism. However, I now see that this assumption is way off. I also have a greater appreciation for Islam and Muslims. Muslims have so much devotion to their faith that it is inspiring. I feel like there is not much meat to this blog post, but I am semi-speechless in regards to how much I have truly learned and how much of a greater understanding I have of Islam. Especially with the way society has been recently and all the people afraid of Muslims, I am glad that I have the knowledge to know better. I also have the knowledge to go out and advocate for Muslims and try to get people to understand that they cannot take the actions of a few and use that to define millions.

As this being my last post I would like to say a few words about this class. I walked in knowing barely anything about Islam and now Im walking out knowing so much. There is so much to this religion that some people fail to see, and I really wish that they would learn. We have watched several movies in this class and after watching them Ive come to see that even though the religion is the same the way people live and follow it quite different across various countries of Islam. It has been one the fastest growing religions all over the world yet still people know nothing about it. I am glad I took this course because I have learned so much.

As the semester comes to an end I have been reflecting on what we have learned about in class and how informative the course has been. Not only did we learn about Islam as a religion but I felt that we also got to build on our character. Even though I am not Muslim, I feel like there were some values and morals that Mozaffar taught in class that not only pertained to Muslim but rather all individuals. The way Mozaffar taught this course was unlike any other and as a senior I would have to say this was one of my favorite courses so far. I can say that walking out of this course I have learned a lot about Islam as a religion and I hope to continue to learn more about it in the future.

This week was our last class. I kind of felt sad about it because it was definitely one of those classes where I didn’t have to look at my watch. Professor made it so interesting for all of us. So, this week we finished watching Malcolm X. It was definitely one of the most interesting movies that I have seen. Denzel Washington did justice to the role he played and was completely indulged in it. He tried his best to show every emotion of Malcolm X. Malcolm X’s journey from prison to NOI and to Mecca is a very transformative journey. We saw him turning good from bad. During his pilgrimage, he learned the most important lesson of life. That all men are created equal in the sight of God, rejecting the ignorant belief, which considered some people superior to others because of their language, race, social status or ethnicity. That is because such discrimination is severely condemned in the Qur’an. “Racism,” as defined in our day, is an idea Allah prohibits in the Qur’an. One of the divine purposes in the creation of the different races is “that they should come to know each other.” Other then this the ending and especially the way he was shot was pretty sad. The best part of that scene was that when Malcolm X was shot there a smile on his face and it was a sign of some sort of satisfaction. I don’t know if that’s true about what actually happened.

In response to ahintofmasala, I agree with you that most of the people to this date think of him as an extremist, but this movie was a great help to clear that misconception. He was a changed man at the end of his life and actually a vey good man. He truly was a great loss.